Again a happy thought I try not to focus on as I say, “Mo. What are you… doing here?”
Now that I can see her properly, I notice that she’s in my walk-in closet, busy picking up the piles of clothes that me and my friends had discarded on the floor before completely giving up. “Okay, this is a mess. I’m going to send someone up here to straighten it all out.”
“You don’t have to,” I tell her. “I can do it myself.”
She turns to me then, smiling. “Well, I don’t want you to. Because I hear that someone had a great night.”
I freeze for a second. Then, “Um, you hear?”
What did she hear?
Did she hear me… you know, moaning?
Last night I mean.
God, did she hear everything? But wait, is that a bad thing or a good thing?
Is she going to be upset that…
“Yup,” she says, breaking into my frantic thoughts. “That’s why I brought you meds.”
I’m so confused right now. “Meds?”
She points with her chin. “Ibuprofen. On your nightstand.”
I glance over and sure enough, there’s a little pill and a glass of water.
“Mr. Marshall said that you might need it after the night you’ve had,” she says, and I snap my eyes over to her, my heart pounding. “I guess he was worried about a headache or something after the night out with your friends. So I’d take that,” she points to the medication, “and then I’ll whip you up some breakfast. Or maybe brunch, since it is lunch time.”
Night out with friends.
That got interrupted.
I did text them hours later when I was about to fall asleep just in case they were worried. I’d also like to point out that I did it using my old phone, the one with the tracker because after the whole nude photo debacle, Alaric gave it back to me. Well, his assistant informed me that my phone was back at the mansion. I think it was his way of telling me that my photos are safe and he would never ever do anything with them. I already knew that but still.
But that’s not important right now. I have other important things to worry about.
“Where is he?”
She frowns. “Who?”
“Uh, Mr. —” Then I decide to just do it. “Alaric.”
It comes as a slight surprise to her.
I’ve never called him by his name before. Not even the night she chose to divulge his story and share some of his secrets with me. Mo has, of course. But usually, she sticks to his last name, and maybe I should’ve too. Especially after what happened last night and how we became more.
Than what we are.
That what we’re supposed to be in the world’s eyes.
And that’s the thing, isn’t it?
That’s why he kept his distance. That’s why he kept pushing me away last week even though he’s wanted me for a long time now. Because of what we are to each other, guardian and ward, principal and student.
None of those things are the things I care about.
I don’t care what he’s supposed to be to me or what’s acceptable in the world’s eyes.
The only thing I care about is that he’s my soulmate.
But.
I don’t know how Mo will react to this. Or the rest of the staff here at the mansion.
I mean, people at school would definitely lose their shit, for sure.
And as much as I don’t care about what people think, I also don’t want to create any problems for Alaric. I don’t want people to point fingers at him or make him out to be the bad guy. Which I know could happen so easily in a situation like this. And I also know that he’d take the blame. Not only because of his epic moral compass and his strong sense of right and wrong, but also because he’d do anything to protect me.
That’s why he left last night.
After the bath, I mean. After he put me in my pajamas, cuddled with me and put me to sleep. I felt him leaving. I wanted to stop him, call out to him, but I was too drowsy to do it. And now I’m glad I didn’t.
Although I wish I had this sense now.
I wish I hadn’t called him by his name and given even a hint that things have changed between us.
But it’s out there now, and Mo is watching me with a look in her eyes that I don’t get. “I was hoping to talk to you about that.”
Fearfully, I swallow. “Uh, talk about what?”
She approaches the bed and takes a seat on the edge, her eyes pinned on me. “About how you’re doing.”
I duck my eyes and bring my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. “I’m doing fine.”
She places her hand on my knees in a silent command to look up at her. “I know you decided to stay. Even when he was ready to let you go. It came as a surprise to me, to all of us actually. And I’d like to know why. Because I want to make sure that you’re okay. That you’re —”